MyBinding Knowledge Base
What are the options on Trimming Your Laminated Documents?
Once you’ve laminated your documents, you might need to trim away some excess laminate.There are five ways you can do this, depending on what you want and need such as a completely straight line or one that involves utilizing items commonly found around the office. That said, here are the five methods. Check them out…
- For those with steady hands: scissors. If you have extremely steady hands, scissors are one way you can trim your laminated items. If you do choose to use scissors, be sure to select a high-quality pair from a reputable manufacturer, such as Dahle. They have a full-lineup of great scissors that are super sharp and can make it easy to trim away the excess laminate.
- For those wanting a safe method: GBC Zippy Knives. These small handheld devices from GBC are great tools to use when trimming laminated items. A super sharp blade is secured inside a plastic handle and cuts straightly for a great finish. Your fingers will also be safe from the blade due the design of the handle. You can even use these knives to separate your document from the laminating film after it exits your laminator. These cutters are available in a variety of colors and can be used to cut other items including ribbon, paper, cardstock, and thread.
- For those wanting a completely straight line: rotary trimmers. There are a number of rotary trimmers on the market and just about all of them can be used to trim laminated documents, especially if you require a super straight cut.. You’ll need to use a trimmer that’s large enough for your document, such as a 12″ one for a letter-sized document. Trimmers such as these have cutting lengths that range from 9″ to 63″, so there’s one out there that’s ideal for your particular document. There are some trimmers can even produce wavy cuts if you want to give your item a special look. Some good trimmers to check out are the Swingline Commercial Cut series, the Akiles Roll-A-Blade 1815, and the Fellowes Atom 130 and 180.
- For high-volume operations: trimming machines. There are a number of automatic trimmers on the market that are great if you laminate a lot of documents frequently and find it would be impossible (or too time-consuming) to trim everything by hand. These machines are typically designed for super large items such as banners and tend to have cutting lengths from 13″ to 63″. A device such as the Pro-Lam 13″ Automatic Laminating Trimmer can be used for smaller objects such as book covers, photographs, and so on. Good machines for larger application include the GBC Pro-Trim 63″ Lamination Trimmer.
- For those on a budget: a ruler/straight edge and razor/knife. Finally, you can always trim your documents with a straight edge and either a razor blade or some kind of knife. It’s inexpensive (you probably already have the supplies you need) and doesn’t require investing in an expensive machine. This method is also incredibly fast and easy, especially if you only have a small number of items to trim. If you do choose this method, be careful so you don’t end up cutting yourself.
Finally, no matter which method you choose, please be careful. That way your document will look great and you’ll stay safe. Good luck and happy trimming!
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
